Gabel’s Custom Refinishing & Upholstery

The team at Gabel’s did an AMAZING job redoing an old love seat I’d inherited from my great grandma.
They refinished the wood, redid the springs in the seat, put in new cushioning, reupholstered it & added new gimp. I couldn’t be happier with their work & overall great service.
Highly recommend them!

I have an office chair that I’ve had for twenty years. I’ve never found a new chair as comfortable as this one. It’s perfect for me and the upholstery is fine, but it was structurally falling apart. Screws that held the arms to the seat and back were unscrewing themselves and the chair would fall apart while I was sitting in it.
I took my chair to Gabel’s and Chris looked at it. He verified that the threads the screws screwed into had not been stripped, and he tightened all the screws on the arms with an Allen wrench (hex key). Then I showed him that two of the four screws that held the metal base of the chair to the wooden seat were missing. He replaced those screws and screwed them in tight. I asked him how much to pay him for his time and he would not let me pay him.
So, my chair is back together and I’m happily sitting in it now. I bought the right Allen wrench for 79 cents at Ace Hardware so I can tighten the screws if need be, and I’m sitting here writing this review without my chair falling apart. So, Chris saved me buying a new office chair for free. And that’s as good as it gets.

A few months ago, my wife and I had Dave and Chris Gabel repair and refinish a china hutch and foot stool crafted in the 1930s or 1940s which had belonged to my wife’s great grandmother. Being about 80 years old and having been in a Montana ranch house for the vast majority of that time, both were sorely in need of repairs and refinishing after decades of use.
All I can really say of their finished product is WOW! We have six or seven similar pieces that are family heirlooms of sorts, and fully intend for the Gabel’s to restore them as well.
Both Dave and Chris were consummate professionals who listened to all of our needs and concerns and returned to us a very superior restoration. We never felt talked down toward and any questions we had were easily answered. The repairs were completed in a timely fashion and their communication with us about any stage of the process was simply great! The quoted price was spot on and reasonable for the amount repairs, material, and time that our furnishings needed to look, literally, darn near brand new! They even came to our home, on short notice, to finish some other repairs. This was an excellent experience, and from experience with other similar vendors, these guys are well above their colleagues in the restoration business. I would whole heartedly and without reservation recommend Gabel’s Custom Refinishing and Upholstery to anyone who wanted a quality, timely repair of their furniture as we were more than satisfied by the entire experience!

I’ll add a photo to this review when I have a chance, but Gabel’s did an AMAZING job on a family heirloom piece that my dad gave me a few years back in damaged condition. It took a long time to repair and cost a good chunk of change, but the results were incredible. The nearly 200-​year-​old dresser now makes everything else in our house look shabby. Another restorer gave a much lower bid after a very short phone call. I’m glad I followed up with Gabel’s and asked more questions. Because the dresser was difficult to move, the owner even did a house call and spent nearly an hour looking it over. He gave me a thorough, honest assessment and quote that I really appreciated. It made me comfortable spending more than twice as much as I’d planned to get it done right. Now it is in the kind of exquisite condition that at least a few more generations of my family will be able to enjoy it, as well. I highly recommend Gabel’s for any restoration, small or large.

Jim Ryan, Shoreline
Called Dave who was very knowledgeable, courteous and helpful. When I described the problem with the chair I wanted reupolstered, he went over the very reasonable costs of labor and materials, which was more than I wanted to spend. So I’m going another direction, but I just wanted to say that Dave was the only one out of seven companies I called who picked up the phone. I truly appreciate a good businessman. I will recommend him to my friends.

I went to Gabel’s with an unusual request. After relocating, the movers were unable to get our sofa up the stairs in the narrow hall of our townhouse. I thought the sofa would need to be dismantled and put back together once inside. Chris and Tony came out, measured and measured again. After scratching their heads and talking a lot about angles, they worked their magic and I am now happily writing this review sitting on my sofa!

Dave Gabel and his crew are the best furniture refinishers and reupholsterers around. They did four chairs for me that turned out perfect and I’ve recommended them to several friends who also were very pleased with their work. Their craftsmanship is excellent and they are honest and straightforward. I learned of Gabel’s from a friend whose mother always took her furniture there and she was a stickler for quality so I knew it was a bona fide recommendation. I feel confident sending anyone to Gabel’s.

I can’t stop looking at the Heywood Wakefield dresser that I just had refinished at Gabel’s. It’s really satisfying to see a piece of furniture transformed from something ordinary into something incredible.
I bought this dresser on Craigslist and it was in pretty rough shape when I took it to them. Honestly, I didn’t know how much they would be able to do with it, but I had no expectation that they would make it look brand new. They did. Not only did Gabel’s meticulously sand and remove all of the old finish, inside and out, but they were even able to bleach out stains and water marks that had deeply penetrated the wood. Amazing.
The pride that Gabel’s takes in their work was evident in every interaction I had with them. They had me stop in at the shop twice to show me what they had done and to make sure I was happy with the color of the stain. I was fascinated on one of these occasions to watch Chris create a custom mix of stain without measuring anything. He added the pigments one by one until he had just the color he wanted. In the end, he was able to perfectly replicate the color and finish of an authentic Heywood Wakefield piece. That is when I realized these guys are not just craftsmen, they’re artists.
All of this would be more than enough to deserve a five star rating, but in addition, they’re some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. I seriously want to buy more furniture so that I can get it refinished again at Gabel’s.

I brought Gabel’s an antique love seat and I’m very picky. I had a specific vision in mind and they worked with me every step of the way. My love seat is amazing and I get compliments on it from almost every customer that walks in my door. Several people have asked me for info about them so they can take their own upholstery projects to them after seeing my piece. They take pride in their work and it shows!

Great local refinisher! They totally transformed two Stickley side chairs that some foolish person decided to paint PINK into absolutely beautiful museum quality pieces. All this and great personal service.
Highly recommend!